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you would like to support this web site and the amount of research it
involves, I will be grateful and will give you access to a library of
resources

*****
Latest addition is Generation 49 - pre-Messianic times *** If you already
visited this site,
welcome back and please check the
What is new page to find out about the additions since your last visit.
*****

What
is this site about?Seder Olam
is an ancient book compiled in Hebrew by Babylonian talmudists about
160 CE. It gives a
chronology of the history of the Jewish people and the world around
them since the first man Adam until the Great Revolt against
the Roman rule. Seder
Olam means Order (or Chronology) of the
World. Some 450 years later, another book called Seder Olam Zutta
(the SmallSeder Olam)
was issued in Babylone to complete the former work until their time.
Since then, and to distinguish the two works, the former one
is referred as Seder
Olam Rabbah (the GreatSeder Olam). There
have been other works to continue the
chronology since, but they based their work on the Seder Olam
chronology. Yet, this chronology met hard challenges
to
resolve because it made some assumptions which should not be considered
as correct with the hindsight of chronologies from other
parallel
civilizations which have only been deciphered in the past 100 years or
so. So the Seder Olam
needs some revision and corrections, and this is the goal of the
present web site.

Although the
Seder Olam
chronology from the Creation to the Exodus is
fairly detailed and almost free from debate, the periods that follow,
from the
time of
Joshua and the Judges until later events was based on assumptions from
the
original author(s). Unfortunately these assumptions do not always
match historical
chronologies that have been established since from the Egyptian,
Babylonian and
Persian
records. The present site presents an attempt to reconcile these
differences
and point to possible mistakes in the original assumptions made in the
Seder
Olam. And, of course, the goal is also to continue the
original work
until the present days. Some however say that the misleadings of Seder
Olam chronology was intentional, as the Sages wanted to
hide the true
details, giving echo to what Daniel himself was told when he requested
to understand the time of the ultimate Redemption: (Daniel 12:9): "Go your
way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the
end." Indeed
these details are sealed from human knowledge, but the
chronology thus far is not, and should not, be sealed. At the contrary,
their study is commanded, as a mean to educate: (Deuteronomy 4:32) "For ask now of the days past,
which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the
earth."
I have divided the present chronology into 50 different "generations"
of
mankind
from the arrival
of Adam. Why 50? It will be fully explained in the last (50th)
generation,
which will be the Messianic times according to Jewish scriptures, but,
in essence it is related to the Jubilee of the world and to the
importance of the number 7. Since the
Creation, God has established the Shabbat, which is the 7th day. Then
the Israelites were ordered to respect it as a "rest" day (rest in the
sense of stopping one's daily activity and dedicate that day to prayer
and study in order to connect with the Creator), and to also
observe the 7th month (Tishri) as a renewal of the year cycle. They
were also commanded to respect the 7th year as a rest year for
the
land (the so-called Shmita
or
Shemitah). The number 7 is tied to day-month-year
cycles and has no other source than the Bible and the Shabbat.
After 7
cycles of 7
years, totalling 49 years, they were ordered to respect the Jubilee
year, the 50th year. This cycle is mirrored into the chronology of the
world which will continue for 49 generations, until the last
generation,
the 50th one. The world, as it is known to Jews, is supposed to last
6000
years: this gives 50 generations of 120 years each. So each
"generation"
of the present chronology covers 120 years of Jewish history. The
period of 120 years is also given by God, at a certain point of time in
the Biblical narrative, as the maximum number of years that humans can
live.

I hope you will
enjoy going through these pages and, as this is a work in progress, do
come back and check the updates in the What is
New section. If you
have comment or message to send me, please do so by using the Contact
form.

DIASPORA- the end of the Sanhedrin institution was
prophecized and so was the end of the Roman Empire as a result
- the rise of
Islam and the Hijrah,
622 CE- more to
come....

COMPARISON
WITH TRADITIONAL SEDER
OLAM CHRONOLOGYThe chronology
established by the author(s) of the ancient Seder
Olam Rabbah
leads to
many discrepancies with historical facts. For a
comparison of this chronology with the present revision, click
here

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bible
and ArchaeologyThe items below
are related to people, places, events, or customs mentioned in the
Bible:

EGYPTIAN
- the Hapiru people, assumed to be the Hebrews, mentioned in the Statue
of King Idri-mi
- the Ipuwer
Papyrus describes the plagues that fell upon Egypt at the
time of the passage of Abraham
- Ahmose I had massive silos built to store grain,
as per the recommendation from Joseph
- the Tempest Stele of Ahmose I may be
describe the disaster that caused famine in Egypt at the time of Joseph
- a hieroglyph text dating from Amenhotep
III's reign mentions the Hebrew tetragram name for God
- the tale of the conquest of Sichem by the Apiru (Hebrews) mentioned
in the Amarna
letters
- the Great
Hymn of Aten, from Pharaoh Akhenaton, suggests he
was influenced by the Hebrews
- the empty tomb of Pharaoh Horemheb may be the result
of his Biblical end
- the Biblical story of the heathen
prophet Balaam is proven by Archaeology- the stele of Beth-Shean recalls the victory campaign of Seti I in Canaan before the Israelites came in- the altar that Joshua built on Mount Ebal has been found
- the Tomb
of Joseph in Sichem, where the Bible stated Joshua had buried
him

KINGDOM
- the Merneptah
Stele is the first archaelogical item that
mentions the name 'Israel'
- the Biblical name of Jabin, king of Hazor, is mentioned
in a tablet found in the ruins of that city- archaeologists have found the location of the camp of general Sisera who oppressed the Israelites for two decades
- the writing (as symbols for words) was born in Sumer, but the alphabet
was introduced in Canaan by the Israelites- a jar was found with the ancient Hebrew alphabet bearing the rare name of one of Saul's sons, "Eshbaal"- the clay seals found in Tell El-Hesy confirm that there was a central power (monarchy) at the time of David ca. 1000 BCE
- an inscription on a limestone slab confirmed the Biblical name of Ekron,
one of the five cities founded by the Philistines
- one relief in the Temple of Karnak shows Pharaoh
Shoshenq (the Biblical Shishak) fighting Israelite enemies
- the Mesha
Stele refers to several Biblical characters from the time of
the Israelite kingdom
- the Tel-Dan
Stele refers to the names of King David, Israel and Joram
- the Bat Creek inscription, found in
North America, with inscription in Paleo-Hebrew: forgery or genuine?
You decide !
- the Joash
Inscription refers to the reparations King Joash directed
over the Temple
- the Zakku
Stele refers to Ban-Hadad, the Biblical king of Aram at the
time of the Israelite kingdom
- the Uzziah
Tablet, related to the relocated tomb of Uzziah king
of Judah who died a leper- the religious reform of King Hezekiah (ca. 720 BCE) is proven by archaeology, including a toilet seat used to defile the high place

PERSIAN
- the proclamation of religious freedom by Cyrus the Great is mentioned
in the Bible and in the Cylinder of Cyrus
- a drachm-type coin was found in Judea
and features the name of the new Judean province in the Persian Empire
- the History
of Berossus, written about 280 BCE, borrowed from the Bible
(but before the Septuagint)
- the introduction of alphabet in the Persian Empire dates
from the time of their emancipation of the Israelites

The compilation of the Jewish Bible (Tanakh)
was completed in 440 BCE by Nehemiah. Its first translation in Greek,
known as the Septuagint, was completed about 200
years later around 230 BCE.

Text
of the Seder Olam RabbahLinks below to
the text of the Seder Olam Rabbah, with annotations, in PDF format
- Part
1 - From Adam to Jacob, click here
- Part
2 - From Jacob to Joseph in Egypt, click here
- Part
3 - Sojourn in Egypt until the Exodus, click here
- Part
4 - Calculations about the Flood, click here